An afternoon at the NY Auto Show
#1
04-24-2006, 08:46 AM
An afternoon at the NY Auto Show
Well it's been a while since I've posted on here...mostly because I wanted to wait and see the Fit, in person.
I went to the NY Auto Show this past Thursday and brought with me a mental list of "must see" cars. Aside from the obvious reasons to go to the show (Exotics / Concepts / etc...) my "must see" list included the following:
1) Honda Fit
2) Toyota Yaris
3) Nissan Versa
4) Dodge Caliber
5) Scion Xb
6) Mazda 3
OK, the first car I see is a blue Toyota Yaris hatch (TRD version) First thoughts are, WOW...nice sporty looking little car. However, that thing is tiny!!! I did not see a Yaris hatch to sit in...but they did have a Yaris 4-dr. open. The Yaris 4dr. I found to look similar to the Corolla...making me think the Corolla may be phased out in another year or so. The Yaris was kind of tight inside, not much shoulder room between myself and a guy sitting in the passenger seat. The center dash guage cluster was definitely not to my liking. I would imagine one would get used to it though after a while.
Next was I went to see the Honda Fit. My fiance dragged me to the Honda section because she knew I was hesitating to go. I have seen soooo much of this car online...I was afraid to be disappointed by it in person! :eek: Well when we got there, what can I say..."The Fit is Go!" :D
At a first glance, the Fit has that "Honda" look to it, sporty yet practical. I took a seat in the base model first. I was astonished by how big the car is on the inside!!!! I would describe it as "cavernous." I'm 6 ft. and 185 lbs. I'm not a small guy...but not huge either. I felt a little lost in there since there was soooo much head room. My fiance, who like me had only seen pictures online, was pleasantly surprised as well. The "Fit" and finish was just as we had expected...the same quality as on her 2002 Civic. Very nice feel overall and plenty of cargo room in the back hatch area. Now here's the kicker....my fiance sees the Civic 4dr. Si on display (concept) and fell in love with that. She liked the Fit...but loves the 4dr. Si. I have to agree, that is one HOTT ride! So I guess we shall see what happens later this year when the 4dr. Si hits the showrooms.
Next we went to Nissan. The Versa was just plain and boring looking. There's really not much more to say...just really an unimpressive vehicle to look at. The show model was locked and had some sticker saying that it was a "pre-production" model and had to remained locked. YAWN...not worth while even if it was unlocked.
On to the Dodge Caliber. Seen a few out on the streets now and not that enthused about it. I did take a seat in one and it seems to follow the same design that all Dodge / Chrysler cars have these days....huge, flat, and overwhelming dash boards. The Caliber seems like a practical vehical but more like a mini-minivan than a hatch-back.
The last two cars on the list are the Scion Xb and the Mazda 3. 2 Thumbs Up for the Mazda 3 and a big NO to the Xb. I liked the style and quality feel of the Mazda 3. Having owned a Mazda Protege about 15yrs ago, I tend to be a little biased I guess. I believe Mazda makes decent quality cars and that was confirmed by my look-over of the 3. The 3 hatch is sportier than the 4dr. but the hatch does not offer much cargo room (unlike the Fit) Fit and finish on the Mazda was superb, unlike that of the Scion Xb. The Scion Xb was just a huge disappointment. The interior looked as cheap as the exterior and for the size and shape of the thing, there was very little cargo room in the back with the rear passenger seats up. The scion Xb may be a great car for the 18 - 20 yr. old crowd, but anyone older will want a little more sophistication in their ride. The Scions start off cheap at base price...but dress it up a little and they can get up to $18 - $20k easily. For that price, I'd rather have the Mazda 3.
All in all, it was great day at the show. Saw a lot of cars that I will probably never drive (Saleen / Lambo / Bentley / Ferrari / etc...) :D
The concepts were cool too....Dodge Challenger looks awesome...almost identical to the one from the early '70's. Civic Si 4dr.....hopefully they don't change a thing when it comes to production. The new Camaro concept was just too big and bulky in my opinion. Scion Fuse was just plain weird...and cool at the same time. Suzuki will be releasing a new ride soon, I believe it's called the SX4. Looks like a fun little car and would like to see learn more about it. They had a rally version on display too that looked HAWT!!!!
Well, that's about it for my day at the show. It was a great time and I finally got a chance to see the Fit in person. The Fit is definitely now on my "must buy" list!
I went to the NY Auto Show this past Thursday and brought with me a mental list of "must see" cars. Aside from the obvious reasons to go to the show (Exotics / Concepts / etc...) my "must see" list included the following:
1) Honda Fit
2) Toyota Yaris
3) Nissan Versa
4) Dodge Caliber
5) Scion Xb
6) Mazda 3
OK, the first car I see is a blue Toyota Yaris hatch (TRD version) First thoughts are, WOW...nice sporty looking little car. However, that thing is tiny!!! I did not see a Yaris hatch to sit in...but they did have a Yaris 4-dr. open. The Yaris 4dr. I found to look similar to the Corolla...making me think the Corolla may be phased out in another year or so. The Yaris was kind of tight inside, not much shoulder room between myself and a guy sitting in the passenger seat. The center dash guage cluster was definitely not to my liking. I would imagine one would get used to it though after a while.
Next was I went to see the Honda Fit. My fiance dragged me to the Honda section because she knew I was hesitating to go. I have seen soooo much of this car online...I was afraid to be disappointed by it in person! :eek: Well when we got there, what can I say..."The Fit is Go!" :D
At a first glance, the Fit has that "Honda" look to it, sporty yet practical. I took a seat in the base model first. I was astonished by how big the car is on the inside!!!! I would describe it as "cavernous." I'm 6 ft. and 185 lbs. I'm not a small guy...but not huge either. I felt a little lost in there since there was soooo much head room. My fiance, who like me had only seen pictures online, was pleasantly surprised as well. The "Fit" and finish was just as we had expected...the same quality as on her 2002 Civic. Very nice feel overall and plenty of cargo room in the back hatch area. Now here's the kicker....my fiance sees the Civic 4dr. Si on display (concept) and fell in love with that. She liked the Fit...but loves the 4dr. Si. I have to agree, that is one HOTT ride! So I guess we shall see what happens later this year when the 4dr. Si hits the showrooms.
Next we went to Nissan. The Versa was just plain and boring looking. There's really not much more to say...just really an unimpressive vehicle to look at. The show model was locked and had some sticker saying that it was a "pre-production" model and had to remained locked. YAWN...not worth while even if it was unlocked.
On to the Dodge Caliber. Seen a few out on the streets now and not that enthused about it. I did take a seat in one and it seems to follow the same design that all Dodge / Chrysler cars have these days....huge, flat, and overwhelming dash boards. The Caliber seems like a practical vehical but more like a mini-minivan than a hatch-back.
The last two cars on the list are the Scion Xb and the Mazda 3. 2 Thumbs Up for the Mazda 3 and a big NO to the Xb. I liked the style and quality feel of the Mazda 3. Having owned a Mazda Protege about 15yrs ago, I tend to be a little biased I guess. I believe Mazda makes decent quality cars and that was confirmed by my look-over of the 3. The 3 hatch is sportier than the 4dr. but the hatch does not offer much cargo room (unlike the Fit) Fit and finish on the Mazda was superb, unlike that of the Scion Xb. The Scion Xb was just a huge disappointment. The interior looked as cheap as the exterior and for the size and shape of the thing, there was very little cargo room in the back with the rear passenger seats up. The scion Xb may be a great car for the 18 - 20 yr. old crowd, but anyone older will want a little more sophistication in their ride. The Scions start off cheap at base price...but dress it up a little and they can get up to $18 - $20k easily. For that price, I'd rather have the Mazda 3.
All in all, it was great day at the show. Saw a lot of cars that I will probably never drive (Saleen / Lambo / Bentley / Ferrari / etc...) :D
The concepts were cool too....Dodge Challenger looks awesome...almost identical to the one from the early '70's. Civic Si 4dr.....hopefully they don't change a thing when it comes to production. The new Camaro concept was just too big and bulky in my opinion. Scion Fuse was just plain weird...and cool at the same time. Suzuki will be releasing a new ride soon, I believe it's called the SX4. Looks like a fun little car and would like to see learn more about it. They had a rally version on display too that looked HAWT!!!!
Well, that's about it for my day at the show. It was a great time and I finally got a chance to see the Fit in person. The Fit is definitely now on my "must buy" list!
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